Based on the Spelling Productions television show, Charmed, created by Constance M. Burge. All Charmed characters are the property of Spelling Productions; 'Jessica Llewell' & "Vincent" were created by Denny Stevenson.

It is a sunny weekday morning when a young woman arrives at a small theater for an audition. Finding the front door locked, she looks around the side of building for another entrance; seeing a door halfway down the alley she starts to walk towards it until she hears footsteps behind her. As she turns around, a bearded man with a knife grabs her and drags her to the back of the passageway. About 15 minutes later, her assailant leaves the alley, stopping a block away to look at the watch he has taken from the young woman. "Good timing", he says as he pulls the watch stem out, stopping the watch so that it reads 10:13 am.

The next morning at Halliwell Manor is a typical one: Prue and Piper are getting ready for work, Phoebe is not. Instead she goes out to get the morning paper, as her sisters, engaged in a lively discussion, come down the stairs. As Phoebe picks up the newspaper she gets a dark premonition - a bearded man looking at a wrist watch that reads 12:37. She is brought back to reality by Piper calling her to the phone. Inside, Piper turns her attention back to her older sister. "I can appreciate the fact that Claire is your boss and can make life difficult for you, Prue. But I am not, repeat, am not, going to hire her nephew to play live music at Quake." With that she takes the paper from Phoebe in exchange for the phone, and goes into the kitchen, Prue in tow. "But Piper, you have to admit," says Prue, trailing behind her, "it's not such a bad idea. Having live music, that is." They continue their conversation in the kitchen, Piper looking heavenward for patience. Phoebe soon joins them, taking the newspaper back, and turning its pages in earnest. Giving up for the moment on Piper, Prue turns her attention to what Phoebe is doing and asks if she's looking for a job. "Nope - just my horoscope," she answers. "Wouldn't you be better off looking through the classifieds instead?" asks Prue. Without looking up, Phoebe answers, "I've already taken care of that." With no small amount of hope, Prue's eyes open wide in amazement. "Really? You got a job?" "That's great, Pheebs," Piper chimes in, "what kind of job did you get?" With a confident smile, she answers, "I don't know yet" and continues to search through the paper. her sisters look at each other, completely skeptical now. Seeing the looks on their faces, she finally tells them, "On Monday I am going to a temp agency. I won't know what kind of job I'll be sent out on until then". Piper looks at Prue and nodding her head in approval says, "It's a start". Prue seems to agree. "Oh, by the way," says Phoebe, "Ben wanted to know if either of you want to join him and Chris and me tonight - we're going to check out a hot new club he heard about." Both her sisters decline the offer, knowing how Phoebe and her friends like to stay out till the clubs close. Piper, seeing the front page of the paper, cautions her to be careful, given the recent rapes that have occurred. "He's struck again," Piper says, then proceeds to read aloud the front page story about the Time Rapist, who has now struck 10 times, each time taking his victim's wristwatch instead of jewelry or money before raping them. "Don't worry," Phoebe tells her sisters, "I won't be alone. Now you two better hurry along or you'll both be late, and I'll be the only one with a job." With that, Piper and Prue leave for work. Phoebe re-reads the article about the latest attack, and stops when she gets to the description of the rapist, which includes mention of his having a beard. She begins to wonder if her premonition is about the next attack.

A few hours later, Prue is in her office, going over documentation for Buckland's latest shipment, when Claire comes in. "Just wanted to make sure we'll be ready for Monday's auction," she says to Prue with just a little too much sweetness in her voice. "Oh, by the way, did you speak to Piper about hiring Vincent?" Prue tells her that Piper is considering it. "Good," says Claire, "because he will be there this morning for his interview." With that, she leaves Prue to her work. Hurriedly Prue calls Quake and has to pull the phone away from her ear when Piper hears the news. "Piper, listen to me... maybe he is as good as Claire says he is...no, I haven't heard him play...well, I'm sure you will make the right decision..." She hangs up, certain that unemployment for both herself and Vincent looms in the near future.

Piper hangs up the phone, and turns to find Phoebe standing there. She and her friend, Ben, have stopped by for a moment. She takes Piper aside and tells her about her premonition and how she thinks it may have something to do with the Time Rapist. "Maybe you shouldn't go out tonight," Piper says, very concerned. "I'll be fine," Phoebe reassures her, "Chris & Ben will be there. Besides, I can take care of myself - I lived in NYC, remember?" Piper still isn't crazy about the idea, but doesn't have a chance to pursue the discussion further. One of her employees comes over to tell her the interviewee for the bartender position is there. "Guess this means you won't reconsider going with us to the Spotlight tonight?" Phoebe asks as they walk back to where Ben is waiting. Neither pays much mind to the young man waiting nearby who has been glancing discreetly at Phoebe and overhears this part of the conversation. Getting a definite no from Piper, she leaves with Ben. As she does, a man with an accordion enters and asks for Piper, who then politely excuses herself, and picks up the phone. "Prue, yes it's me - tell me, did Claire happen to mention to you what instrument her nephew played? Hmm, I thought so. Well, I'll give you one guess" and she holds the phone out in front of her. At the other end, Prue hears the distinct strains of "The Beer Barrel Polka" being played, and winces.

A few blocks away from Quake, Phoebe and Ben, stopped at a light, notice 2 police cars in front of an office building. "Wonder what happened there?" Ben remarks. As they drive away when the light changes, Andy and Detective Morris pull up and head into the building. Inside, detectives are all over the first floor, focusing their attention on something that has occurred in the stairwell. "Number 11, Trudeau," one of them remarks to Andy. "Same M.O.?" he asks. "Almost. This time he also took her driver's license" is the officer's reply. "What time did the attack occur?" asks Morris. "Between 11:00 & 11:15 - the victim is certain of the time frame because she had an appointment with the casting office up on the 2nd floor", the officer tells him. Andy & Det. Morris look at each other. "Why doesn't that surprise me?" says Andy.

Later that evening Prue is half watching/half listening to the news on tv when something on the broadcast suddenly catches her attention. "Police report the Time Rapist has struck again, claiming his 11th victim. They have released a sketch of the assailant..." Just then, Phoebe walks into the room, and seeing the tv screen, exclaims, "That's him! That's the bearded man in my premonition!" She then proceeds to tell Prue what she saw in her vision. Concerned, Prue asks her to reconsider going out that night. "Like I told Piper, I'll be with my friends," she reassures her, "so don't worry." With that she goes back upstairs to finish getting ready. Prue decides to call Quake and tell Piper, who's working late, to have someone walk her to her car tonight.

A few hours later, Piper is ready to leave; she looks around to see who she can ask to walk her to her car. The only one readily available is Claire's nephew, Vincent, who has taking the job of busboy and a shine to Piper. She thinks better of asking him and, deciding her car isn't that far from the door, heads out the entrance. She doesn't see the young man standing in the shadows across the street, and starts to step off the curb, but stops when she hears footsteps behind her. Ready to freeze whoever it is, she turns to find Vincent, who eagerly offers to walk her to her car since he has heard of the latest attack. She graciously declines his offer, and heads across the street to where she is parked. Undeterred, Vincent waits until she is in her car before he goes back into Quake. The young man in the shadows turns and goes in the other direction.

By midnight, Phoebe and her friends have spent a few hours at the Spotlight, and decide to move on to another more familiar haunt. They're halfway down the block, heading for Ben's car and lamenting the lack of adequate parking, when Phoebe realizes she has left her jacket in the club. Telling the guys she'll catch up with them, she heads back to retrieve it. A few minutes later she reappears and hurriedly starts back to the car. Halfway there, she passes an alley and quickly glances into it. Seeing no one, she breathes a sigh of relief and continues on her way. Suddenly someone grabs her from behind, and before she knows it, he has a knife to her throat, and putting his hand over her mouth, he drags her back into the alleyway.

Pushing Phoebe up against the wall behind a dumpster, her attacker wastes no time. With the knife still to her throat, he orders her to not make a sound and to empty her purse out onto the dumpster. Quickly she complies, and as he shoves her wallet into his pocket, she gets a good look at his face. To her horror, it is the man in her premonition. "Oh my god!" she exclaims. "Shut up!" he tells her, then demands she give him her watch. Trembling, Phoebe finally manages to take it off and hand it to him. Taking a step back, he looks at the watch which reads 12:07, then gives Phoebe a good look up and down. "Now it's time for the fun part," he tells her. "Indeed!" growls a voice from behind him. Without any further warning, Phoebe's attacker suddenly goes flying and lands a good 12 feet away. She looks up to see who her rescuer is and finds Jessica standing there, 2X4 in hand. "Are you ok?" she asks Phoebe, who can only nod at this point. "We'd better get you out of here and call the police," Jessica starts to say, when the sound of running footsteps gets her attention. They turn to see the assailant fleeing; Jessica goes after him, only to find no trace of him on the street. Frustrated, she gives up and returns to help Phoebe out of the alley. By now, Chris and Ben are walking back to find Phoebe, and come running over when they see something is obviously wrong. Just then a car comes to a screeching halt in the street; Prue jumps out of the passenger side almost before the car has come to a complete stop, and rushes to Phoebe's side. "Are you all right?" she asks Phoebe, who merely nods as Prue puts her arms around her protectively. "What happened?" asks Piper, who is now at her side too. Phoebe tries to compose herself before answering. "Someone mugs me and almost..." she doesn't finish the sentence. The girls help her to the car, where Piper uses her cell phone to call the police. Within minutes, the police arrive and determine that Phoebe's assailant most likely was the Time Rapist. This prompts a call to Andy who arrives soon after he is startled to learn who the intended victim is, and is so concerned about Phoebe that he doesn't put up much of a fight when Prue insists he put off questioning her further until morning. However, as the girls get into the car to leave, Andy notices something unusual: Piper is wearing bunny slippers. Realizing what he is looking at, she tells him quickly, "I like to be comfortable when I drive," and climbs into her car before he can ask any questions. Jessica and the girls head for their respective homes, leaving Andy with a puzzled look on his face. Turning to one of the officers, he orders police protection for the Halliwell house. "The last girl to get away ended up dead the next day," he explains.

As they drive home, Phoebe asks her sisters how they knew to come and pick her up. "Jessica called and told us you were in trouble, and that we should get there as soon as possible." When she asks how Jessica knew this, Piper tells her what Jessica told her. "She said she got a message that you were in trouble and she couldn't explain because she had to be there by 12:07". The full impact of what has happened and its connection to her premonition finally hits Phoebe and hard as she realizes she was meant to be the rapist's next victim. The color drains from her face. "Piper, pull over. I think I'm going to be sick."

Meanwhile, in a rundown apartment a few blocks from the club, Piper's new bartender has just finished removing a fake beard. He then pushes aside some of the theatrical makeup sitting atop a dresser, and arranges 12 watches in a row so they read 1:20, 2:36, 3:18 & so on. The only one still ticking is Phoebe's. Putting it and her driver's license in his jacket pocket, he lies down on the bed. "Tomorrow she will give me the time of day," he vows, "tomorrow...."

The next morning finds Prue and Piper in need of coffee-neither has slept much. As they busy themselves in the kitchen, Jessica stops by to check on Phoebe, who is still in bed. She joins them at the kitchen table, anticipating the questions she knows they must have for her. Thanking her first for saving Phoebe from "that animal", Piper then asks how she knew Phoebe was in trouble. "One of the few gifts I have is similar to Phoebe's, it just works a little differently," Jessica tells her. "Then tell me something," asks Prue, as she sits down, "is it always going to be like this?" All the emotions stirred up by last night begin to come to the surface. "Are there always going to be demons, and creatures, and warlocks trying to kill us? And what happens when we have our own families? How can we even hope to always keep them safe?" Jessica's heart goes out to Prue, knowing just how she feels-scared, angry and frustrated at not always being able to protect someone you love. But she also knows she can't give her the answers she wants to hear. "Unfortunately, the danger will always be there," she tells Prue, "and it's a valid concern, one that your folks had too. But you can't go through life so scared that you withdraw into a cocoon. You have these gifts for a reason," she reminds her, "but know this: because of who you are, the 3 of you will always be sent help if you cannot protect one another with your powers, which are more special than you realize." "Well then, I guess I'll be seeing a lot of you during my short lifetime," says Phoebe who has come downstairs unnoticed, "because my 'power' wasn't much help to me last night. Even some of the details of my premonition were wrong." Just then the doorbell rings, and Phoebe goes to answer it, saving everyone from having to respond.

Asking first who it is, she finds it's Andy and lets him in. He asks how she is, and then tells he he needs to speak to her and her sisters for a few minutes. They go into the kitchen, where Andy's sudden presence causes a visible change in Prue's demeanor. Seeing Jessica, he asks if they have met before. "I'm Jessica Llewell," she says, extending her hand, "we met in the hospital when Phoebe was stabbed." [See Jethro's story 'Night of the Demons']. He nods for a moment, then remembers why he is there. Trying to avoid Prue's steady gaze, he tells them about the undercover police car out front and why it is there. "Do you really think he'll come after Phoebe again, and here?" asks Piper. "If he follows the same pattern," answers Andy, "and the fact he has her wallet..." he doesn't get to finish. "...means he has my driver's license and address," finishes Phoebe, sitting down as if the wind had just been knocked out of her. "Don't worry," says Prue as she puts an arm protectively around Phoebe, "we'll be here." Piper then asks Andy why the rapist always takes his victim's wristwatch." It's probably like a trophy to him," replies Andy. Phoebe then asks if it's possible that he wears a fake beard, commenting that something didn't look quite right about his. Andy finds this very interesting. "It would make sense; most of the attacks have occurred near theaters and other entertainment related facilities, leading us to believe he may be an actor." His gaze accidentally meets Prue's; looking away abruptly, he sees the clock on the wall and says he has to be going. "I'll walk you out," says Prue, getting up and following him out of the room. Piper and Phoebe look at each other apprehensively, feeling the tension in the air. As Andy gets to the front door, he pauses, then getting up his nerve, turns around to face Prue. "Before I go, I have to ask you something - how did you know that Phoebe was about to be attacked?" This catches Prue off guard. "What do you mean?" she asks.

Andy starts to rattle off his evidence. "According to the police report, Phoebe was attacked around 12:05; Piper made the 911 call from outside the club just a few minutes later at 12:12, even though it takes a good 30 minutes to get there from here." He stops Prue from responding just yet. "The fact that Phoebe had a ride home with her friends, and that both you and Piper were in your pajamas last night tells me you probably weren't planning on picking her up, but instead rushed out of the house." He pauses for a second before going in for the kill. "That means the only way you could have gotten to Phoebe so soon after the attack is if you were warned beforehand that it was going to happen." Prue thinks fast and explains that they had had a sudden craving for junk food last night, and then just decided to drive past the club to see if Phoebe and her friends were still there. "The bunny slippers say otherwise," Andy tells her as he opens the door and leaves.

When Prue gets back to the kitchen, she finds Piper and Phoebe trying to come up with a plan to catch the rapist. "The only thing we have to go on is that he probably will try again around midnight." says Phoebe, "perhaps that's why the watch in my premonition read 12:37 instead of 12:07." Thinking for a moment, Prue comes up with an idea. Before she can share it, Jessica announces she has to leave or she'll be late for work. "You have a job?" Phoebe asks, surprised. "Being 'ageless' doesn't mean you don't have to eat," Jessica explains to her. "Starvation won't kill me but it's damn painful. Besides, you wouldn't believe how expensive it is to move around every few years." She heads for the front door. "But will you be back tonight?" asks Prue. Jessica shakes her head, and tells her that their powers are more than adequate to catch the rapist and put him behind bars. "I'd rather put him 6 feet under," mutters Prue. Jessica hear this, and points out that revenge is just another form of personal gain. And with that, she leaves, promising to check in on them in the morning.

Prue starts to mobilize the troops. "The first thing we need to do is call in sick", she decides. "I don't care what Claire says - I'm not leaving either of you here alone." She suddenly realizes that Piper hasn't told her whether or not she hired Claire's nephew. "Well, yes and no," Piper says hesitantly. Prue demands to know what that means, so Piper tells her. "You didn't!" Prue says in disbelief, "tell me you didn't hire Vincent as a busboy!" Piper defends herself, telling Prue it wasn't her idea, that when she told him they couldn't afford to hire a musician when what they really needed was a busboy and a bartender, he took the job of busboy. As Prue puts her head down on the table, she wonders if she has worked long enough at Bucklands to collect unemployment.

Later that afternoon at Quake, the new bartender shows up for his first day on the job. It doesn't come as much of a surprise when he is told that Piper won't be in and that someone else will have to show him exactly what his duties on the job will be. As he gets settled in behind the bar, he overhears Vincent calling his aunt to ask if she can get Piper's number for him. As she tells him what Prue's, and therefore Piper's, number is he repeats it aloud while writing it down, unaware that someone else is making a mental note of it as well.

Around 11 pm the phone rings at the Halliwell's. This time Phoebe answers it, only to find no one there. As she puts the phone down, she suddenly finds herself shaking. "Who was that Phoebe?" asks Piper, seeing the look on her face. "I think it was him," she tells her. "What did he say??" Prue jumps up from the couch. Phoebe then explains no one was there, but that right after hanging up, she had a premonition. "I know how he is going to get into the house tonight," she tells them.

It's about 12:30 when the police car outside notices all the lights have been turned off in the Halliwell house. "They must have finally gone to bed," surmises one of the officers. From their position, they don't see a young man sneaking into the backyard from a neighbor's yard, or hear the faint sound of a basement window being forced open. Once inside, the young man can hear someone walking overhead, and creeps up the basement steps only to find it almost completely dark upstairs. The only source of light is coming from the next room, where a very dim night light is on. Slowly he head towards what appears to be the living room, and sees someone sleeping on the couch. Taking out his knife, he advances cautiously towards the sleeping figure, and reaching out, he grabs..."A pillow?!" Suddenly the lights go on, and he swings around to face Prue, who has come out from where she was hiding. "Looking for someone?" she asks angrily. He goes to stab her with the knife, but is frozen in place by Piper, who was also hiding nearby. "Quick! Call the cops!" Piper tells her. Shaking her head, Prue tells her, "no, he isn't getting off that easy," and proceeds to use her powers to slam him into a wall. Then another. And another. She is in the process of sending a large vase down from a shelf onto his head when Piper stops her by freezing things again. "Remember what Jessica said," she reminds Prue, then says, "oh what the hell," and unfreezes the vase, allowing it to smash onto his head, knocking him unconscious. With that, she runs outside to get the police, while Prue retrieves Phoebe from the hall wardrobe where they have hidden her for safe keeping. "It's ok, Phoebe," she tells her as she helps her out," it's over." Looking at her watch she sees it is 12:37.

The next morning turns out to be anything but a typical morning at Halliwell Manor. Jessica comes by as promised and is not surprised at the previous night's outcome. "See? You didn't need me after all," she tells them. "You were able to do it on your own." Phoebe interrupts her. "You mean Piper and Prue were able to do it on their own - some help I was, hiding in a closet." Jessica puts her hand on Phoebe's shoulder reassuringly. "You're forgetting it was your power that made it possible for them to know precisely when to use theirs. Otherwise, it may not have turned out so well." Piper and Prue agree with Jessica. "Can I ask you a question?" Phoebe asks, to which Jessica nods. "Yesterday you said our power were more special than we realize. What did you mean?" Jessica smiles, then begins to explain how their powers may develop over time. "For instance, Prue, it is very possible that you may someday be able to channel your power through your hands as well and with little effort. You may even be able to use it with your eyes closed, and on objects in other rooms. It definitely will grow strong enough over time to move even the heaviest of objects." Prue likes this idea. Turning to Piper, Jessica tells her, "You may not believe it, but what you do is not just freeze time but manipulate it. That means that possibly someday you may be able to move time backwards as well, but only in very small increments such as seconds and only around very small spaces such as the immediate area around a person. But it's more likely you will be able to speed up time, but once again only in small amounts and only around a very small space. For instance, if your son cuts his finger, you could..." "..speed up the time around the wound, allowing the healing process to speed up as well," Piper finishes the sentence. "Is that how you healed Phoebe when she was stabbed?" Jessica nods, pleased that Piper is such a quick learner. "Yes, that was the basic principle behind it". At this point, she turns to Phoebe. "Let me guess," says Phoebe, a bit skeptical, "because of the nature of my power, I'm not going to be able to do much more than I can now." With no small amount of pleasure, Jessica assures her she is wrong. "You've already found you can now see the past as well as the future. Soon you'll be able to use your power on demand, and possibly by just concentrating on something or someone, instead of needing physical contact of some sort. For instance, by 'meditating' each morning for about 15 minutes, you would be able to see if anything bad was going to happen to those in your family, and if so, warn them so they are prepared. You already are their first line of defense; when your power gets stronger it will be even more reliable." Phoebe hadn't thought of her power in this way before. "That's pretty cool. Guess it isn't as useless as I thought," she tells Jessica. "There's something else you are capable of doing with your power right now," Jessica tells her. She pauses for a moment, then asks,"You know how you once said you don't have many memories of your mom?" Phoebe nods. "How would you like to borrow some of mine?" Jessica offers. Phoebe's mouth drops open for a moment. "Get out of town - you're kidding, right?" Jessica explains that there is a way that Phoebe can see the memories of another witch - if she possesses a power similar to Phoebe's. Taking Phoebe's hand, Jessica places it over her heart, then places her own on top. Closing her eyes, she tells Phoebe to do the same and to concentrate when an image starts to appear in her mind. To Phoebe's amazement, she soon begins to see a vision of a beautiful young woman rocking a baby to sleep in her arms. "Do you recognize who that is? It's your mom, and that baby is you..."